pinions of buddy don: name that flip flopper

Osama bin Laden

9/12/2001:

Speaking with reporters after a Pentagon briefing on plans to call up reserve troops, Bush offered some of his most blunt language to date when he was asked if he wanted bin Laden dead.  "I want justice," Bush said. "And there's an old poster out West… I recall, that said, 'Wanted, Dead or Alive.'"

3/13/2002:

As I say, we hadn't heard much from him. And I wouldn't necessarily say he's at the center of any command structure. And, you know, again, I don't know where he is. I'll repeat what I said: I truly am not that concerned about him.

 

Nation Building

10/3/2000:

The vice president and I have a disagreement about the use of troops. He believes in nation building. I would be very careful about using our troops as nation builders. I believe the role of the military is to fight and win war and therefore prevent war from happening in the first place. So I would take my responsibility seriously. And it starts with making sure we rebuild our military power. Morale in today's military is too low. We're having trouble meeting recruiting goals. We met the goals this year, but in the previous years we have not met recruiting goals. Some of our troops are not well-equipped. I believe we're overextended in too many places.

10/17/2001:

The administration's nation-building doesn't stop with Afghanistan. Last week, it brokered a deal with Uzbekistan that commits the United States to protect the security of that former Soviet republic. The agreement shields the Uzbek government, which has permitted U.S. aircraft to operate from its airfields, from retaliation by the Taliban regime.

1/9/2004:

"There is no question that the force is stretched too thin," said David Segal, director of the Center for Research on Military Organization at the University of Maryland. "We have stopped treating the reserves as a force in reserve. Our volunteer army is closer to being broken today than ever before in its 30-year history."

 

Gay Marriage

2000 Campaign:

Asked in a televised debate before the South Carolina primary in February 2000 what he would tell a state that was voting on same-sex marriage, Bush said: "The states can do what they want to do.''  In a televised debate that October, Cheney said he did not "think there should necessarily be a federal policy in this area.''

2/25/2004:

President Bush endorsed a constitutional amendment Tuesday that would restrict marriage to two people of the opposite sex but leave open the possibility that states could allow civil unions. "The union of a man and a woman is the most enduring human institution, honored and encouraged in all cultures and by every religious faith," Bush said.  "Marriage cannot be severed from its cultural, religious and natural roots without weakening the good influence of society." The president said he decided to endorse an amendment because of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court's recent decision granting marriage rights to same-sex couples, and San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom's decision two weeks ago to begin giving marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples.

 

CO2

2000 Campaign:

In his campaign for the White House, Bush had pledged (boldly, for a former oilman and the governor of a conservative, oil-dependent state) to fight for a new law to reduce air pollution from power plants, including the United States' first-ever legal restrictions on carbon dioxide.

March 13, 2001:

On March 13, President Bush announced that he does not support mandatory reductions for emissions of carbon dioxide from power plants, despite some support for "multipollutant" legislation requiring power plants to reduce emissions of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, mercury and carbon dioxide. Bush cited a Department of Energy report which said CO2 emission caps could cause a dramatic shift from coal to natural gas for electric generation, resulting in "significantly higher electricity prices." AISI opposes the regulation of carbon dioxide, either in mandatory reduction regimes (like the Kyoto Protocol) or in treating CO2 as a "pollutant."

my simple point: neethur candidate has the market cornerd on flip-floppin. even that famous supplemental spendin bill that kerry voted for it before he voted agin it, twuz two differnt bills, one that wooda made shore we paid fer the bill, witch thatns the one kerry voted fer (bush threatend to veto thatn), tuther that wooda borried more money frum our grandkids to pay fer the bill. ye kin read all bout how thatns bein used to play voters fer fools here.